Mr. Kim Strikes It Rich with Auto-Hunting [Novel] Chapter 26

“What, what? What’s the big deal that you’re calling in a guy who’s set to head out on a long trip tomorrow?”

Ralph, America’s rank one.

A climber currently challenging the sixty-seventh floor of the tower.

The strongest hunter in the entire world.

Tomorrow, he was scheduled to fly to China, but…

His dedicated management team suddenly requested an urgent meeting.

And an emergency one at that.

What, did they have some miraculous medicine to give him?

“Come on, guys, you really didn’t need to do this. It’s no big deal. It isn’t like this is my first S-grade dungeon.”

It was always like this.

Everyone worried way too much.

“Ralph, just come over here and take a look at this video first. This is supposedly the current situation in China, and it looks serious.”

Wait, these guys.

Why was the mood so oddly grim?

Did something happen?

Tilting his head, Ralph peered at the video.

“What is this? A movie?”

“It’s the actual situation in China. Taken just moments ago, in fact.”

“That is…?”

Not a movie?

No way.

“All those monsters sweeping in like a tidal wave… That’s all real?”

“Yeah.”

Looking again, it was.

It was real.

The horrific swarm of S-grade dungeon monsters.

The hunters desperately holding the line.

Except…

“This is way different from what I heard, isn’t it?”

“That was three days ago. That was before you went in to raid the sixty-seventh floor, Ralph. Things have completely spiraled out of control right now.”

Three days.

How could the situation turn so drastically in just that short span?

He had definitely heard it would be easy.

This was…

“At this rate, even I could be in serious danger.”

“Right. Monsters that belong inside an S-grade dungeon keep pouring out without end…”

No.

It wasn’t even just a matter of holding the line.

“You’re telling me we have to pierce through dozens of kilometers of that, clear the S-grade dungeon, and come back?”

“According to the commission from the Chinese, yeah.”

“Are they insane?”

Granting every concession, just defending?

Sure.

He could do that.

However…

Cutting through all that to reach the S-grade dungeon at the center?

Did that make any sense?

They were saying you had to push through at least twenty to thirty kilometers…

“Ralph, what do you think?”

“What is there to think about? It only takes a few seconds to figure out the answer.”

An S-grade dungeon.

Even if he had cleared one before, it was never easy.

And pushing through that sea of monsters on top of it?

“If I’m not careful, I’ll end up following Wei Jin to the grave. Why on earth would I do that?”

“That’s exactly why we called you here.”

“What, did you want me to go help them?”

“Haha. Good joke.”

Right.

That was absurd.

“There’s no reason for our nation’s top ranker to take on such risk just to help China. That’s our assessment.”

“Great minds think alike. I feel the exact same way.”

He had planned to go because it would be profitable.

If things were like this, though, that changed everything.

The reward they offered was tempting, but…

Enough to bet his life on?

Not a chance in hell.

In fact, at this point, he wouldn’t go no matter what they offered.

“Unless we could take a plane and drop straight onto the S-grade dungeon in the center, maybe.”

“We’d probably get attacked by flying monsters and shot out of the sky on the way.”

“I have no intention of turning into fireworks gunpowder, so overruled.”

Okay, decision made.

“Put out an article. Say I suffered a major injury while raiding the sixty-seventh floor this time, and I won’t be able to do anything for a while. They ought to get the hint.”

As for China?

Well, they could take care of themselves.

Even if they failed to hold and got overrun…

What did that have to do with him?

Still.

“That document is pretty intriguing, though.”

“Ah, this?”

It was a file obtained by the Intelligence Bureau.

“A South Korean crafter offered to clear the S-grade dungeon for China…”

Looking at the premise alone, it sounded lunatic.

Yet the performance of the items that crafter made with their own hands was unbelievable.

“I heard Korea’s rank one and two jumped past the sixtieth floor in the blink of an eye after receiving weapons from that person.”

“While some people were busting their guts just to climb…”

Having climbed there himself, Ralph knew.

He knew just how insane that claim was.

“Get in touch with that crafter. Tell them I’ll pay handsomely, so make something for me to use too.”

Working magic like that with materials gathered below the sixtieth floor?

If they crafted something using the materials he had hoarded…

Wouldn’t he finally be able to push past the sixty-seventh floor, where he had just failed again?

[China’s Last Hope! Estimated Arrival Time of World Rank One Ralph in China Is…]

What was this?

All of a sudden he was their last hope.

He had no intention of going.

China would just…

Well, they’d have to figure it out.

Didn’t they say that crafter offered to help?

They should try contacting that person instead.

*

[Breaking News) US Rank 1 Ralph Carter Reportedly Suffers Severe Injury During Tower of Chaos 67th Floor Raid — ]

[Ralph Officially Announces He Is Unable to Go to China, Expresses Regret!]

[Absence of World Rank 1: What Will the Repercussions Be?]

……

…

It was the trump card everyone had been counting on.

The sudden news that the strongest hunter in the world would not attend.

The butterfly effect rippled out fast.

[UK’s Arthur Brandt Halts Outside Activities for the Foreseeable Future Due to Personal Matters.]

[Germany’s Rank 1 Lucas Wolf Reportedly Hospitalized After Traffic Accident — ]

……

…

– So glad I didn’t go to China, phew.

– I canceled my flight right away too haha

– Wait, so does that mean there are literally no top rankers in China right now???

└ Yeah, mid-50th floor at best

└ Those guys are seriously screwed…

Other rankers who had only been testing the waters pulled their feet back immediately.

What about hunters who hadn’t departed yet?

They swiftly turned down the commission.

The real problem lay with the hunters already on the ground in China.

– Are you kidding me??? Those guys just tested the waters and bailed on the spot;;;

– A hunter in a traffic accident?? Does that even make sense

– For real, even I could dodge a car and I’m only climbing the 27th floor hahahaha

– They’re saying they’re terrified without saying it hahahaha

– Damn it, I’m scared out of my mind too…

First Ralph, and now the rest of the rankers had pulled out completely?

Word had it other hunters weren’t coming either.

They said everyone was coming!

Everyone came because they said they’d show up.

Bailing out now of all times…

– I was holding the line on the front lines and just bolted. This is becoming a lost cause. Everyone, make your move fast.

└ How bad is it there??

└ There’s no one above the 60th floor, mid-to-late 50s at best, and the monster horde keeps swelling. It’s living hell.

└ Ha… Classic China, even the monsters are trying to win through sheer numbers;;;

The atmosphere turned increasingly bleak.

The wishful thinking that had kept them going was utterly shattered.

– Thinking back, something felt off from the very beginning;;;

– Seriously…

China’s former number one, Wei Jin.

When entering the dungeon, Wei Jin was level 62.

Even a pinnacle hunter like that had died…

Why had anyone thought this would be easy?

– We were blinded by the reward.

– No, it was because they said rankers from the Five Great Powers were coming too…

– We totally failed the reading-the-room game.

——-

[Commission]

<Dungeon> S-grade dungeon break occurred near Beijing, China. Urgent assistance required from hunters around the world.

– Central Awakened Management Bureau, China

——-

China’s commission.

The completion condition was a dungeon clear.

Was that even possible?

– Absolutely impossible

– It’s a lost cause.

– Let’s run

– They’re saying flights are grounded?

– Run anyway, get as far away from Beijing as possible

The dream of turning life around overnight was finished.

Now, it was about walking away alive.

Time to run.

Everyone, run.

*

“The scales have finally tipped. They’ll be contacting us shortly.”

“Whoa, you predicted this?”

Damn.

He had foreseen the US rank one pulling out?

As expected of a high-grade laborer.

Hajun suddenly saw the bear in a new light.

“Pardon? No way. I’m a merchant, not a prophet.”

What?

So Todd hadn’t predicted it?

“I had a rough idea, of course. If all of them joined forces, they might have managed somehow, but…”

“But?”

“Well, it’s not their country, so why on earth would they do that?”

“True that!”

Ah.

That was true.

Even Hajun wouldn’t go if someone told him to put his life on the line over there.

No way in hell.

Ding![New Commission]<Dungeon> S-grade dungeon break occurred near Beijing, China. Urgent assistance required from hunters around the world.

Additional Reward: Robin Hood’s Bow Fragment

– Central Awakened Management Bureau, China

Oh?

A commission.

“It popped up the second you mentioned it, didn’t it?”

Additional reward: Robin Hood’s Bow Fragment.

Nice.

They should have offered this from the start.

Should he accept it, then?

Just as he was about to hit accept…

“Director, wait!”

“Huh?”

Todd held out a short, stubby arm, blocking him.

“The scales carry far more weight now than they did back then. You need to get more out of them.”

More?

Was there anything else left to squeeze out of them?

When Hajun asked, Todd replied:

“How would I know? But if you turn it down, won’t they scrape the very bottom of their vaults to offer something extra?”

Okay.

It was a slight shame to wait, but the laborer said this wasn’t enough to satisfy their appetite.

Bring more to the table, folks.

*

“Just how did things end up like this…?”

“My apologies. Hunters are continuing to desert the front.”

“What about the defensive line?”

“Currently, ten kilometers from Beijing…”

“It’ll be breached within a few days. Ha…”

This wouldn’t do.

There was no other way now.

Only one.

“Send a commission to that Manpower Office Director. Tell him we’ll give him the Robin Hood’s Bow Fragment.”

They would give him what he wanted.

So hurry over and save them.

Having steeled their nerves to make this decision…

“I am terribly sorry. That Manpower Office Director… rejected it…”

“What?”

Rejected it?

Why?

“He demanded… we bring more…”

Grit.

That extortionist scoundrel.

As if the Robin Hood’s Bow Fragment wasn’t enough, he wanted to scrape them down to the very bone…

“Director, what should we do?”

“What can we do? Do we have any other choice?… Tell him we’ll give him that as well.”

“Are you referring to… that…?”

Right now, there were only two items left in China worthy of being called ‘that.’

The Robin Hood’s Bow Fragment that was about to be ripped away.

And the Elixir of Potential Increase.

“Director, we can’t. That was meant for Chen Yu…”

They truly couldn’t.

It had been saved for Chen Yu once the hunter reached the 60th floor…

They only had a single bottle…

“If it was going to come to this, we should have just had Chen Yu use it regardless of whether higher base stats yield better results…”

Ha…

No.

If they had known it would come to this…

They should have just taken the deal back when he offered to clear it for the Robin Hood’s Bow Fragment in the first place.

Yet that ship had already sailed.

“We have no choice. It’s better than sitting idly by while everything falls to ruin…”

It was infuriating.

If only Wei Jin were still alive.

“Tell him we’ll give him everything.”

Provided, of course, that he definitively cleared the S-grade dungeon at the heart of the dungeon break.

If he couldn’t clear it, he wouldn’t get a single scrap.

*

Ding![New Commission]<Dungeon> S-grade dungeon break occurred near Beijing, China. Urgent assistance required from hunters around the world.

Additional Rewards: Robin Hood’s Bow Fragment, Elixir of Potential Increase

– Central Awakened Management Bureau, China

“Something else really did come in…”

“Yes. There was no way people like that wouldn’t have something hidden up their sleeves.”

“Teddy bear! Hooray!”

“Whoaa—!”

Uh…

Rani.

The teddy bear pulled off a huge score this time, so stop messing with Todd…

Still, what was an Elixir of Potential Increase?

“That will likely have minimal effect on you, Director. Giving it to the laborers would be best.”

“Oh…”

“Arthur’s here?”

“……”

Right.

Arthur or Robin.

It would be one of the two.

In the first place, Hajun had no need to become stronger.

Nor did he have any real desire to.

His laborers took care of everything anyway!

“Well then, should we get moving?”

A dungeon located in China, not Korea.

At first, the thought had made his head spin.

He wondered if he would have to relocate the office.

Turned out there was a way after all.

“You can simply use a Temporary Dispatch Range Expansion Voucher. There should be one in the Point Shop, but…”

A Temporary Dispatch Range Expansion Voucher.

Didn’t he already have one of those?

Opening his inventory, he took a look.

There it was.

[Temporary Dispatch Range Expansion Voucher]

When was it again?

He had received it as a reward for completing a mission that required training five times in the training ground.

Tearing it open…

[Using ‘Temporary Dispatch Range Expansion Voucher.’]

[Select a country to expand dispatch range.]

The entire world appeared on the list.

Let’s see… China selected.

Was the range expanded now?

[Dispatch Laborers]

– Dungeon

Tapping on it…

“Whoa…”

China was something else.

Maybe because the territory was so massive, the sheer number of dungeons was ridiculous.

It wasn’t even comparable to Korea.

It took a good while just scrolling through them.

Continuing down the list, it finally showed up.

[S-Grade Dungeon]

Phew.

“Arthur, Robin, you ready?”

“Arthur’s going!”

“……Yeah.”

Robin had offered to go alone.

Seeing how tough the situation looked, though, Hajun decided to send both of them together.

That supposedly brutal S-grade dungeon…

If it was his laborers, they would clear it and return safely.

“Boss, trust Arthur.”

“…Easy.”

Yeah.

He trusted them.

So just make sure to come back without getting hurt.